Flying top



July 17, 1923;

L. WOLFE FLYING TOP 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 11 jov'ezwv Zi /02LJul 17, 1923. 2 42,22?

" L. WOLFE FLYING TOP I Filed July 11.v 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PatentedJuly 17, 1923. v I p urrrn sraes Parrarorricr:

LESTER women, or nnwyoim, N. Y.

T all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, LESTER Zen of the Unitedi azizzi FL ING Tori f "Application filed July 11, 1921. SerialN0..483,631.

VVoLre, a citi- Statesfand resident of New York city, in the county andState of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inFlying Tops, of which the following is a specification.

,This invention relates to fly i is intende d to provide a toy whichshall be capable both of air on the helicopter pri spinning upon the asdiminished sufliciently to allow rotation 11 floor when .the'flier todrop to the floor.

the flier rises to the ceiling. in

upper point the ceiling thus allowi spinning and to descend and s ingtops and of this kind flying in the nciple while also the speed of Theinvention comprises; generally speak havinga generally circular lined oroblique wings and hub structure yieldupon an axial pin which th aboveand'below for thepurpose of per.- t to spin on either end, so that whenits flight the a of the pin will impinge against the top to continue pinupon the floor when the force of gravity is greater than the liftingpower of its speed slackens.

This an will be particularl exp ing specification andwl d other featuresof the invention lained in the followll be defined in the claims heretoannexed.

In the vanes as the accompanying drawings 1 have shown in detail orientthe forms embodying the principles of this invention, in which:

"Figure 1 is a ver through the flying top its interwinding or I vhichits rot Figure 2 1 flier member proper W1 secured thereto.

Figure 3 1s a similar vie ing meinb torque er removed.

Figure & is a side elevation i tion of the part s Figures the flier.

torque me Figures thereof.

5 and 6 show plan mber.

8 and}? are opposi tical centralsection when connected with device fromative impulse is received s a plan view illustrating the th its clutchmember w with the clutchn central sec hown in Figure 3.

' and vertical two members forming apted to the hub of Figure 7 is anelevation of the winding or te end views Figure ldis a detail showingboth plan body or cylindrical member' of thetorque or winding box Figure1% 1s a side elevation showing an "assembled view of the complete top asit appears when flying or spinning.

In the practice of this invention according to the form illustrated inthe drawings, I form preferably out of a single disk of very light sheetmetal a top comprisino'. a

domed hub or central member I, a circu ar 'rim or peripheral guardportion 2 and a series of oblique vanes 4' formed by cutting out radialT-sha Jed slots 3 in the intermediate portion of t e disk at regularintervals I and thenbending to a suitable inclination the intermediatewing portions 4: so that as air to lift the flier until the speeddiminishes to the pointwhere the gravity of the device overcomes thelifting action. Immediately surrounding-the domed part of the hub orcentral supportlng structure are a series of I arcuate' slots'5u Thecoupling'means by which the flier is detachably coupled with itswindingbox or torque device comprises a disk or plate 10 provided with avertical annular flange 11 which forms a guide-for temporarily couplingtogether'the winding box and the top which plate around its edge insideof the flange 11 is provided with a series of arcuate slotscorresponding to or registering with the slots 5 in the main fliermember. The coupling member proper comprises the plate ordisk 13provided with an annular peripheral flange terminating in disk 10 withits ears projecting through the slots 12 as indicated in dotted lines inFigures 5, and this two partJstructure is then applied to the centralspider or hub portion of the main flier member so that the ears theflier is rotated, let us say in a contraclockwise direction, the vanesact to cause the short ears or lugs 14 arranged to register resides inthe structural' 14 will pass through the slots 5 and be clinched on theunderside of the flier hub by 'being turned outwardly as shown inFigure 1. The plate 13 of the clutch member is provided with peripheralarcuate slots 15, adapted to receive a projecting tooth 24 of the Windinmember, presently to be described, and a so has arcuate slots 16 at aslight distance from the central pin-receiving perforation of the plateto be engaged by the hook 37 of the winding device.

It will be seen that the central openings of the plate 10 of the clutchmember 13 and of the domed portion of the hub 1. are all verticallyaligned to receive an axial pin 17. Said pin is provided with a flange-dcollar 18 secured firmly thereto so as to receive the thrust of helicalsprings 19 and 20 disposed on opposite sides thereof and forming aspring cushion against the longitudinal or axial movement of the pin inthe bearing holes formed in. the parts of the centralsupportingstructure of the flier.

Obviously. the flier could not be conveniently operated withoutsome'means for imparting the necessarily rapid rotation. there to aboutits axis to cause I have. therefore, provided an improved starter ortorque device which is constructed to cooperate with the flierconstruction already described so as to impart thereto the necessaryrotation or spinning movement.

The detailed construction of the-various parts of the form of thestarting or winding device is illustrated in Figures 7 to 13 of thedrawings, while Figure 1 shows the starting device operatively attachedto the preparatory to setting the latter in rotation. An importantfeature of the construction of this part. of the invention details'bywhich the starting device may be individual parts capable of beingformed. of stamped. metal without the use of solder, screws or otherfastening accessories.

The main winding device comprises a barrel or cylindrical member 22formed by bending up a flatstrip of metal into cylindrical fornnthemetallic blank being formed on cue end with a series of projecting cars23 used for fastening the device together and with a projecting tongue24 which serves as a stop member or tooth for locking the partstemporarily against rotative rotation inone direction. while leaving thememher free toturn in the contr while winding up the spring. I I

It will be understood that Figure 1 shows the parts arranged so as toallow the flier to be pushed off from its spring holderor startingdevice in order to fly upward, but it is clear that the device might beturned my direction up side down in which case the flier would flydownward toward the floor and spin on its then lowermost point withoutflying assembled out of above the level whence it started. The showingof the individual parts in elevation on Sheet 2 of the drawings,however, shows those parts disposed in just the reverse position to thatshown in Figure 1. For convenience the end of the winding devicecarrying the interlocked tooth 24 may be called the coupling end of thedevice, while the end carrying the hand winding disk 36 at the anchoredend of the torque spring may be called the winding end of the barrel.The active winding element is the coiled helical spring 35 whoseanchored end is bent back on the coil of the spring as shown at 36? tobe inserted in an orifice 32 of the anchoring plate 30. The plate 30 isprovided with outwardly lit in between the projecting ears 33. formed onthe winding end of the starter device and its interior edge is flangedin an axial d1-.

rectionto form a short annular guide against the exterior of the helicalspring. A winding disk 35- is formed out of a properly struck-upmetallic disk and is provided with a peripheral rim 36 of suflicientwidth axially to be conveniently grasped by the fingers and a centralneck 37 which passes inside the helical spring to prevent it fromgripping upon the central or the springis being wound up. As shown inFigure 11, the winding disk is provided with arcuate slots 38 formed toregister with the ears 33 on the adjacent end of the barrel or cylinder22 so that the ears may be bent inwardly after these parts are assembledtogether asshown in Figure 1 to secure them to ether.

winding device is placed a guide plate 25 (see Figure 12) which has atits periphery an annular flange 26, and immediately ,adjacent to. saidflange a series of arcuate slots 28 adapted to registerwiththeears 23 ofj the barrel and the interlocking tongue 24 which also forms an of thebarrel. Thisguide member also has an internal annular flange 2'T'to actas a guide to the free or coupling end of the spring.

the coupling end of the barrel with the slots aligned to receive theears 23 and the .tongue 24. vThe ears avardly to lock the guide inplace, while the .tongue 24 is allowed to project in an axial directionbeyond the surface of the annular plate 25. The adjacent loose end ofthe spring is formed with a hook as shown at 37 and also projects beyondthe end of the barrel or'guide member 25.

This hook 37 is extended to pass into-any one of the three slots 16formed in the coupling plate of the flier, While the projecting tooth 24which is inclined on one side and has an abrupt shoulder or stop on theother side will pass through one of the peripheral flanged wings 31 toaxial spindle 17 when extension of that end It is assembled by pushingit over i are then turned inn the opposite or coupling end of the slots15 of the coupling plate of the flier;

Obviously, when the hub of the top is I coupled together into thecoupling pressed over the coupling end of the barrel from which projectthe hook 37 and the tooth 9A, the two devices will be operatively withthe spring hooked plate or member 13 and the tooth free to ride .in onedirection as the coupling member is rotated relatively to the top inorder to wind up the spring. Of course, such rotative movement involvesan axial lift or partial separation of the two members as the couplingplate 13 rides up the inclined surface of the tooth 2 1, but as soon asthe portion of the plate between two adjacent arcuate slots 15 haspassed over the top of the tooth endwise pressure of the flier towardthe winding member brings the tooth into the next coupling slot and thusprevents the unwinding of the spring, while a new grip is taken by thehand to further turn or wind the spring. When the spring has beensufficiently wound for the purpose, the devices are held together ininterlocked relation. It will be noticed that one end of the flierspindle 17 projects through the whole winding device so that when thefinger or thumb is pressed against this projecting end the flier will bepushed off from engagement with the stop tooth 24 and under the torqueof the wound-up spring is given a sudden rotative impulse which causesthe flier to rotate with suliicient rapidity to fly upward. The upwardlyprojecting end of the spindle prevents the flier blades from strikingagainst the ceiling which would otherwise result in stopping therotation of the flier. This feature as well as the feature of mountingthe spindle in the flier under a spring tension which keeps the partssnugly but yieldingly engaged has the beneficial effect not only ofmaintaining the spindle in proper operative axial relation to the flierat all times, but also allows the spindle to act as a shock absorber sothat the sudden strong impact of the ends of the spindle either againstthe floor or against the ceiling does not tend to interfere with thespinning or to knock the assembled parts apart. The thrust spring alsocauses the flier to rebound when the peg or pin strikes upon the ceilingor floor.

WVh-at I claim is 1. A flying topcomprising a circular flier withoblique vanes, and a central hub por tion provided with axial alignedopenings, an axial pin projecting through said openings and held inyielding engagement with the hub portion by tensioning means acting inopposition to axial movement of the pin in either direction,substantially as described. v

2. A flying top embracing in its construc tion, a central axial pin, acircular flier supported thereon by yielding tension springs acting inair axial direction in opposition,

said flier being provided with coupling means by which it may bedetachably coutially as described.

3. A flying top embracingin' its construcin spring pressed engagement in'aiiaxial as 1 described.

4. A flyingt'op embracing in its construction a circular fliercomprising a series of oblique wings and a central supporting structure,an axial pin passing through and engaged with the central structure,theends of said pin being both above and below the central structure toallow the top to spin upon either end, and means for yieldinglycushioning the pin against impact in both directions, substantially asdescribed.

5. In a flying top the combination with a flier member provided withaxially aligned openings, a spindle member passed through said openingsand thrust springs engaged respectively with the flier and the spindleto exert a yielding pressure in opposite directions against the spindle,substantially as described.

6. The combination of a. flying top embracing an axial spindle,and acircular flier having a central supporting structure operativelyconnected with the spindle so as to leave spinning ends both above andbelow the main plane of the flier, a slotted coupling member secured tothe central structure, a starting device including a springcontainingcasing, one end of the spring and i one endof the casing projectingbeyond the end of the casing to form respectively interlockingengagement with said coupling member, whereby rotation may be impartedto the flier when the coupling member is disengaged from said casing,substantially as described. I

7. A flying top embracing in combination sheet metal main body membercomprising n integrally formed central hub, outwardly pro ectmg obliquevanes and a peripheral rim the hub being centrally perforated to repledwith a spring winding device, substan wings and a central connectingstructure comprisingupper and lowenm'embers held tion an axial pin,aflier comprisingoblique spindle inserted in the hub at oblique Wingsall formed of a single piece of sheet metal, a slotted coupling memberadapted tobe engaged by a starting device, and an axially yieldingspring mounted right angles to the main plane of the flier,substantially as described.

9. A starting device for a flying top comprising a split tubular casingheld by and interlocked with surrounding end heads, an anchoring platesupported at one end of said casing, a helical spring anchored to saidplate and extending axially through said casing and the other end head,and having at its free end a projecting-hook for engaging the flyingtop, and an interlocking tooth projecting from the end of the casingadjacent to said free end of the spring to detachably interlock with thetop to prevent unwinding of the spring" When the starting 20 deviceiisoperatively assembled with the flier, substantially as described. I

In Witness whereof, I have subscribed the above specification.

LESTER WOLFE.

